Heroes of the Storm: Alpha Invites Expand Beyond NA

The alpha of Heroes of the Storm is now open to countries beyond the U.S. for the first time, Blizzard has announced.

Previously the first wave of invitations for testers to experience the alpha build of the game was limited to North America only. Now though, the studio has distributed invitations to “a limited amount of players based outside of the United States,” including players who have opted in on Battle.net and friends and family of Blizzard developers.

With this, Blizzard has added support for more local currencies and payment methods in the in-game Heroes shop, which allows players to purchase new playable characters and costumes with real money. That though is entirely optional since you can also earn the characters in-game. The costumes though have to be bought with real money.

Server realms for Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia are now available to choose from.

The talent system of Heroes of the Storm recently got an overhauling. In a trailer released (above), Blizzard detailed all the relevant changes where instead of choosing to level up individual abilities, players can choose between a set list of talents at each level.

Over a month ago it was revealed that Blizzard has plans to introduce a Founder’s Pack to the game. Founder’s Pack are usually offered for titles in early alpha or beta stages and is becoming quite popular for free-to-play games. They offer players the chance to get access to the game’s upcoming beta as well as access to an in-game wolf mount made of “solid gold.”

Blizzard’s take on the MOBA genre, Heroes of the Storm was first made playable to the public in March. The hero brawler was first announced in October 2011.